5 out of 5 rating for Airoc Astro M
Hi all,
Hi all, here is my latest review on STIGA’s new product, the Airoc Astro M rubber. The Astro is an advancement to the Japanese style Airoc rubber which was released earlier this summer. The rubber comes with its blue porous sponge, and glossy, shiny top sheet.
The pimple structure is similar to the original Airoc, however the air bubbles in the Astro are smaller and in turn means there are more pimples, which has been developed to create a more catapult effect from away from the table.
The Airoc Astro weighs 69 grams and cut weighs 49 grams. The top sheet of the rubber feels and looks grippy.
Forehands
Before I started using the rubber I thought it would be very similar to the airoc, however I was surprised to find that you could tell immediately of some fundamental differences. The speed was definitely faster with the Airoc Astro. The crisp impact produced a nice catapult effect on the new plastic ball, which is essentially what this rubber is designed to deal with. Here are some examples demonstrating the explosive power of the rubber.
Away from the table
From mid distance to away from the table, you can produce a lot of speed and control on the ball due to the long trajectory produced. This gave a lot of accuracy in my shots.
I found that on some occasions, playing close distance, the ball would go directly off the end of the table when going for power, as this rubber doesn't naturally produce as much dip on the ball as other tackier surfaced rubbers . I therefore had to adjust my technique with more of a brushing motion when playing power shots to compensate for the rubbers throw angle. However from mid distance this longer flight path meant that I had great safety and consistency in my attacking shots.
Spin
When playing against backspin I felt it was easy to impart a lot of spin on the ball really helping for instance, with third ball attacks when the ball was pushed long. The amount of spin produced with the Astro felt similar with the original Airoc. I felt comfortable receiving backspin serves with my backhand flick, the ball really soaked into the sponge creating lots of rotation on the ball which set me up strongly for fifth ball attacks.
Counter Topspin
Precise timing was required for the counter topspin, if this was not met the ball would fly off the end of the table. Once adjustments had been made by closing the racquet angle, I could counter topspin effectively.
Match play
After testing the rubbers with various shots and techniques, it was time to take on Tom in a few sets to see how the rubber held up in matchplay.
Conclusion
The Astro certainly excels it’s predecessor Airoc in terms of it’s speed. There were a lot of players commenting that the old rubber was not fast enough. I certainly felt that Stiga have combated this by increasing the speed in its new addition to the airoc series.
I was really impressed with the control to speed ratio of the rubber as it doesn't compromise on either aspect. The rubber really shines when engaging in aggressive attacking play from mid distance. Whilst at the same time I was able to produce a good amount of spin in the short game when needed on shots such as flicks, open ups and slow topspin.
Overall the rubber works well for players who want stability and control in their game and want that extra bit of kick and speed in their shots when needed.